IN BRIEF; MOVIE BARD IS SEX MANIAC

A MACHO film portraying Robert Burns as a sex maniac is gearing up for production in the summer, with top Scottish talent on board.

Screen heavyweights Brian Cox, John Hannah, and James Cosmo are set to join Lara Croft star Gerard Butler who will play the title role.

It has been penned by Scots writer Alan Sharp, author of the Liam Neeson movie Rob Roy, who describes his script as being "about a provincial boy who comes to the big smoke and runs riot - it is sexual chaos".

Director Vadim Jean was last night keeping details of the female cast "under his hat", but he is already known to have screen-tested Morvern Callar's Kathleen McDermott and This Life's Daniela Nardini.